The Guide to Accreditation (www.teac.org/literature/) includes the basic information faculty needs to prepare for TEAC accreditation. However, when questions from members, unanticipated audit situations, and new regulations from the U.S. Department of Education prompt TEAC staff to amend the Guide with additional information, the revised information will be posted here on the TEAC website.

REVISIONS MADE IN SEPTEMBER 2011 (the current PDF version on the website)

Scheduling the audit (pages 18-19). To allow for formative review of the Brief and time for determining that the Brief is clear and complete (and therefore ready to be audited), TEAC has extended the due dates in the audit schedule as follows:

A full draft of the Brief is due to TEAC 9-12 months prior to the proposed audit date

A final draft of the Brief (following formative evaluation) is due to TEAC six (6) months prior to the audit date for an auditability decision

“Auditability” is declared when the Brief is clear and complete and ready to be audited. At this time, the program submits a final electronic version of the Brief and 5 printed copies of the Brief to TEAC. (The audit itself will determine the accuracy of the Brief; that is not determined by a declaration of auditability.)

The TEAC audit schedule for 2011-2015 appears on page 19

Rationale for the assessments (pages 47-49). The discussion of the rationale has been revised to clarify TEAC’s expectation that the rationale gives the program’s standard for its assessments and explains why the particular criterion the faculty believes indicates success is appropriate.

A full list of TEAC staff and the questions each is a resource person for answering now appears on the page facing the inside back cover of the Guide. This information also appears on the TEAC website (www.teac.org/about/staff/).

Leadership changes are noted on the copyright page and the back cover, and a history of the development of the Guide to Accreditation appears on the copyright page.

Updated information that appeared in the 2011-2012 Guide to Accreditation

What is expected for programs offered in multiple sites?

1. In the Inquiry Brief or Inquiry Brief Proposal:

The internal audit (Appendix A) reviews the program’s quality control system at all locations.

The capacity tables completed by the program (Appendix B) are sorted by location as appropriate.

Data the program provides as evidence that candidates meet the requirements of Quality Principle I are disaggregated by program option and by location.

2. During the audit:

When the program sends TEAC the email addresses of students, faculty, and cooperating teachers for administering the TEAC online survey, it sends separate sets of email addresses for each location. [Note that TEAC will administer the online survey separately to personnel at each program location.]

Auditors will visit at least one off-site location. This site will be identified randomly or because of some appropriate factor (such as the size of the program at the off-site location). If problems are identified at a site through the program’s internal audit or through responses to the online survey, TEAC will audit the site.

What is expected for programs offered in languages other than English?

1. The Inquiry Brief or Inquiry Brief Proposal is sent to TEAC in English for formative help and for the audit.

2. Appendix F, Local Assessments, will naturally appear in the language used by the candidates, faculty, cooperating teachers, and university supervisors. The instructions for these local assessments (for example, how ratings are determined and what the ratings mean) will be translated into English.

CLARIFICATIONS TO THE TEAC PROCESS

What electronic format should be used for submitting the Brief?

The Inquiry Brief or Inquiry Brief Proposal should be submitted in Microsoft Word format to allow for formative evaluation. Once the Brief has been declared “auditable” (that is, complete and ready for audit), the entire document of the Brief and Appendices may be submitted in either Word or PDF formats. The Word format is preferred by most auditors.

When do we submit hard copies of the Brief to TEAC?

Do not submit hard copies of the Brief to TEAC until after the Brief has been declared “auditable” (that is, clear and complete and ready for audit).

When should we include information in Appendix G?

Some states with whom TEAC has partnership agreements specify that all of an institution’s professional education programs, whether housed in the school or college of education or in another unit of the institution, be accredited.

TEAC accepts the accreditation of professional education programs by nationally recognized accreditors (those recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation).

At this time, nine states require all professional education programs to be accredited: Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia. Programs in these states need to complete Appendix G as part of their Inquiry Brief or Inquiry Brief Proposal.

Appendix G will include a copy of the formal notification from other approved accreditors, such as the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), the American Library Association Committee on Accreditation (ALA-CoA), the American Psychological Association Commission on Accreditation (APA-CoA), and so forth.

The attached chart indicates the agreement between TEAC and states with a protocol agreement with TEAC and specifies the expectations of the eight states that require accreditation of all processional education programs.